Sunday, April 21, 2013

Suffering is part of life in this world, even for Christians. This may include being spiritual battles such as being misunderstood by those around you. Or it may be other forms of suffering which humans experience on earth. This includes sickness and natural disasters. It includes accidents.It may be good to pass through life without encountering this but through these hardships we learn many things.◆As long as we are living in this world, there will be hardship. We experience physical and mental fatigue but this is different from the issue of our soul. The greatest problem we need to resolve is the salvation of the soul, the issue of eternal life, and salvation in this world.◆“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (11:1). “Faith” is not a method we use to reach a culmination of our human desires. “What we hope for” is the salvation of souls. The Great Priest Jesus is the eternal atonement of sin. And this leads to eternal life. “What we do not see” refers to the future return of Christ and the promise of the completion of God’s kingdom. ◆The important thing is to have trust in that person, Jesus Christ. That is true salvation. We should not ask in fear, “Is this really okay?” On the other hand, we should have assurance and faith saying, “It is okay! The Lord is with us.”